Mooring mast and mooring gear for lighter-than-air aircraft



. 1,636,354 .July c. D. BURNEY MOORING MAST AND MOORING GEAR FOR LIGHTER-THAN-AIR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 11, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 ymwtw zfmnkmwtw gm July 19, 1927. 1,636,354

C.'D.BURNEY MOORING MAST, mm MOORING GEAR FOR LIGHTERTHAN-AIR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 11, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 19, 1927. 1,636,354

C. D. BURNEY MOORING MAST AND MOORING GEAR FOR LIGHTER-THAN-AIR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 11; 1925 6 s t s t -3 I 1,636,354 July 19, 1927. v c- D. BURNEY I MOORING MAS T AND NOO RING GEAR FOR LIGHTER-THAN-AIR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 11, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 I 1,636,354 July 1927' c. D. BURNEY MOORING MAST AND MOORING GEAR FOR LIGHTER-THAN-AIR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 11, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 19, 1927. 5 I

c. D. BURNEY MOORING MAST AND MOORiNG GEAR FOR LIGHTER TI-IAN-AIR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 11, 1925 6 sh t -.55 e

Patented July 19, 1927;

UNITED STATES .GOMPANY. g

CHARLES DENNISTQN CBUABNEY, or WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAiw, ASSIGNDBJIQ "AIRSHIP GUARANTEE COMPANY, LIMITED, or LQNDON, ENGLAND, A BBITISI-I Moonme MAST nn opnme GEAR on LIQQTEB-THAhT-AIR AIBGRAFI;

Application filed February 11, 1925, Serial No.

This invention relates to mooring masts and more particularly to mooring gear for lighter-thail-air aircraft, such as airships, of the kind in which, for example, a mooring fitting is provided on the nose of the airship-which is adapted to be coupledtoa fitting on the head of the mast, the airship being" adapted to be drawn into contact with i the mooring fitting on the mast head by means of a rope or cable.

In mooring gear of the aforesaid type it has been found that, it a single rope or cable is employedto draw the nose of the airship intocontact with the mast head,'the airship, as soon as it"approaches to within a certain distance of the mast, tends to kite or to set up lateral, hunting, or overriding forward, movements. In order to avoid such dangerous movements of the airship it has beenproposed to provide, in

addition to the i nain anchoring cable, a pair of side guy ropes orfeables each of Which is attached at one of its ends to the nose of the airship the other en'dsofthe guys being anchoredon the ground to leeward of the mastand'i-espectively to port and starboard ot the airship. side guys have been situated on the ground at a considerable distancetrom the mooring mash e g, 500 feet, and. to enable the ship to be hauled in ,to leeward of the mast the anchor points for the side guys have either been arranged on the ground in the, form oia circle at equal distances from" each other and from the mast, or else the anchor points thei'nselves have been movable in a horizontal circle on the ground with the mast as centre. "In order to carry out this method of mooring an airship an exten lve area 01": groundis necessary (e. g, say 1000 feet square), and the chief object of the present invention is to enable an airship to be safely hauled in and anchored to the mooring mast in a restricted, area which may be, for example, the deck of a vessel or-the roof of a building. f v i decent investigations have shown that the aforesaid lateral hunting or over-riding forward movements which arise when an air-. ship is being towed 'by a single cable to a mooring mast do not, aris euntil the airship is within about feet of the mast and do not reach a dangerous magnitude until the airship iswithin about 40 'feet of the maste The anchor points tor the 8,400, and in'grreat Britain February 1e, 1924 so that steadying side guys' ean be dispensed with until the point at which the oscillations begin isreached.

ACCOICllIW' to the present invention use is made of thls knowledge and, in lieu of lo eating anchor points for the guys on the ground, laterally or radially" projecting forming, or being provided with, enclior points for the side guys" or cables which steady the a rship as she is being hauled down for the purpose of mooring her to the V mast. The said lateral 'orradial members,

wl-iich may; be three in nunjiber'and located at uniform d staneeSyaPartaround the top of the mooringmast SK As to make obtuse angles of say degrees with each other, may be about 10 teet 1n length, and are preterably attached to a revolving top at the head of the mooring mast or they may be attached to the n itself, the whole struc ture beingthen' rotatably mounted upon a footstep bearingat the baseso that they can be broughtinto any desired position rela tivelyto the approaching airship, their iiiner ends being also preferably spaced apart to obtain a cantilever efiect. At theouter extremity of eachorojecting member a leading or snatch blocli may be provided around which the main haula e and side guyro pes or cables are passed, a haulage winch or winches being; provided and suitably nos i tioned at the top or botto not the mast .or

intermediately according ,as the top only or the whole structure is designed to rotate tor windingin the said main haulage and side guy Cables. On an airship approaching the mast twoof the laterally or' radially projecting members are brought to leeward otthe maStQbymeanS of gear so arran ed that when once the masthas, been turned in j the des red d rect on it may be looked in that pos tion entire-leased automatically or by hand whenthe ship has been secured in the mooring coupling. or/[When a sudden change in wind direction'renders further rotation necessary to bring the lateral members once more to leeward, the remaining member projecting to Windward offltlie: mast and away from the airship hen, therefore, the main haulage cable 7 from the nose of the airship has been i brought through the snatch lill) block at the outer end of the windwardly projecting member and when the side guys are passed through the snatch blocks on the leeward projecting members the airship, while being hauled down to the mast is steadied by the side guys in the zone where dangerous lateral hunting movements and over-riding forward movements are liable to take place. The forwardly projecting member is preferably disposed at such an angle relatively to the axis of the mast that its outer extremity is situated at a distance of about 2 feet above the mooring fitting on the top of the mast, so that the airship, when the main haulage cable has been hauled in to the proper distance to bring the mooring fitting on the ship vertically above the coupling on the mast will hover at a distance of about 3 feet above the coupling. An anchoring cable is provided which is let down from the nose of the airship when it is in, or approaches, this position, and, by means of a winch or the like on the mooring mast the mooring fitting at the airships nose is brought into contact with the mooring fitting 011 the mast. V

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings which show by way of example one nnbodiment of the invention, and in Which:

Figure 1 is a more or less diagran'nnatic view showing the general arrangement of a mooring mast fitted with a revolving top which carries the main and side guy arms, the nose of an airship being shown in dotted lines in the approximate position which it occupies at the time when but for the restraining action of the side guys lateral hunting movements would begin.

Figure 2 is an elevation showing on an enlarged scale the main guy arm which projects laterally and upwardly from one side of the revolving top of the mast.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the front end of the main guy arm, and

Figure 4 is a section through the main guy arm, showing the triangular construction of the arm and its strengthening struts.

Figure 5 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of one of the two side guy arms which are positioned on the opposite sides of the mast to the main guy arm shown at Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the front end of one of the side guy arms, and

Figure 7 is a sectional end view thereof.

Figure 8 is a sectional elevation through the revolving top, the main guy and side guy arms being omitted.

Figure 9 is a section through the inner end of one of the guy arms and part of the revolving top and shows diagrammatically one of the winches and its associated variable speed gearing by which the side guy cables are hauled in.

Figure 10 is an elevation showing on an enlarged scale the mooring cup to which the ball at the nose of the airship is secured, as also the winch and part of the auxiliary cable by which the airship, after it has been brought into position above the mooring cup, is hauled down into positon therein.

J'Jigure ll is a detail view showing on an enlarged scale one of a pair of radius rods which may be provided for the purpose of being coupled to lugs on the airship so as to enable the airship to turn the revolving top of the mast into any position, according to any variations in wind direction after the mooring fitting on the nose is secured to the mast, without strain or bending on the mooring fittings.

A is the mooring mast which is of built up tubular construction; 13 is the revolving top there and A is a. side strut. C, C are the side guy arms and D is the main cable arm. E indicates the winch and its associated variable speed gearing for hauling in the main cable 0, and F, F, are the winches and their associated variable speed gearing for hauling inthe side guy cables f, G (Figures 8 and 10) is the hand winch on the top of the mast for hauling down, by means of the cable 9, the nose of the airship so as to position the ball at the nose thereof inside the mooring cup H after the airship has been hauled by the main and side guy cables into a position where it is located above the mooring cup II. I, I are radius rods'which are slidably mounted between buffer springs P, P, the latter being located within a casing I, 1 which is pivotally mounted in supports I located on each side of the mooring cup II. The radius rods I, I are provided 7 at their extremities with hooks i, 2' having a spring controlled locking part 2' 2' which rods, as aforesaid, are adapted to be attached to lugs (not shown) on the nose of the ship after it has been hauled into position so as to enable the airship to be used for the purpose of turning the revolving top B without strain on the mooring fittings H and K. The revolving top B is rotatably supported on ball bearings B on the centre fixed portion A of the mast, said centre portion being tubular and containing an elevator A with operating motor and gearing A The top B is provided at its lower end with a circular angle plate 6 which bears on rollers a, a'carried by the fixed portion A J is acircular rack at the upper end of the part A J is a pinion gearing with the rack J, the pinion J being carried on a shaft J on which a gear wheel J is mounted. J is a hand lever and toothed quadrant for lifting, when desired, a pinion J and locking it in engagement with the gear wheel J so as toallow the top B to be turned or aws to be assisted in its turning movement urn der the influence oi' "the airship by means of a "hand wheel J which rotatesthe pinion J. J a hand brake for controllin the rotation of, or locking the revolving top 13,

the brake being adapted to liieopcrated' by a hand wheel J", lnavciler gearing J and right and left handed screws which carry nuts I attached respectively to each end of the "band on the brake drun'n 'llre main guy arin D as shown 111017001831- ly alt Figuresfi, 3 and d is composed of a series of upper and lower tubes D, D and I) seem at their inner endsto the revolving tower l), a pull'ey or leading block I) being provided at the outer end of theguy iii-in. re main haulage rope D passes round the pulley D to the hauling in mechanism E. On the upper members D D a gangway D provided having hand rails D D lo allow the operators to proceed to the end of the guy arm. The side guy arms G, C, as shown 111011 clearly at Figures 5, G "and Y are ot similar construction to the main fguy arms shown at Figures 2, and at,

stored as shown in dotted lines, Within a coinnartinent L leadnig to the lift A but whiclrcan be extended so as 'to allow'the passeiigers from the airship to pass from the nose thereof to the. interior of the mast. The 1nooi*iriglitti11g in the example shown comprises a sphericalmember K on the nose oi? the airshipthrough which the anchoring cable 5 passes, the fitting K being adapted 'to be accomn'iodated within the spherical socket on the mooring ma, Through the socket H the anchoring cable 9 passes after it has been connected to the end of a cable on tho hauling down winch G. The said socket 1s formed in two parts h, [L hinged together so that, when the spherical member K on the nose of the airship has been hauled by meal s of the able 1 into contact with the lower hemispherical socket on thc mooring must, the other hemispherical part h, hingedly attached thereto, may be closed around the spherical member K and the twov parts secured together by vice 72 To enable the main haulage cable 1 and the side guy cables 7. f to be brought in a ready manner round the pulley D and the pulleys C 0 and, if necessary by one or two operators only, the main haulage cable e is carried on a storage winch in the ship a suitable fastening depasses,

ing the mooringmast the sic main haulage cable from the and the ifree end of the haulage cable is led out by Way of a hollow tube or the like through tl'e sphere'K. The two side guys 7, f are also carried upon storage vinches in the s rip and are led out later-a icr ably also through hollow tubes 19 ,1 of the supporting structure for 1 x tubes are located on each e of the through which. lie main haul The free eons of the side are detach-ably conn cted to a ring Which is i Fart breaded upon the main haulage cable 6 so that the latter, as it is unwound TlOlD-l storage winch, runs through the said rin and at a point in the lei *th of the main haulage cable correspond which it is desired that the side guy 7',

will COlIlHlGIlCG'lZO be unwound, a ball Stopper or the l1ke is provided which is rigidly connected to the cable, the ball being of such a diameter that cannot pass through aforesaidring to which the forward e the side guys are attached. and when a predetermined lei main haulage rope has been unwound, the

ball will come into contact with the ring);

and will pull the ring alongwith itrcnd thereby unwinc'l the side puys from H rope storage winches so that the c: th'e side guys will be fed main haula e cable to the top ofthemast In operationfand on an the brought 'to lernvard 'ofthe most in read for the arm D to receive the main h r cable *6 and for the arms C, C to re" sside guysf, f; the ends of those portions of the cables-on the main haulage which E and fireside-"guys winches F, F, to which the main cable and side guys from the shi c to be connected, being brought roz i be piilleysvD and 0 ,0 at the respective eX- tremities of the arms and lcdto' convenientpoint on'the mast. On the end the ship being thrown down, an operator situated on the top of the mast connects the same to the aforesaid cable which leads round the an chor point D to the main haulage winch it. Alternatively, or if found desirable tl side guy cables maybe led from their storage winches on the a rship as above 1 ti -scribed 'while "the mast cable for themain haulage rope may be led, or when over water 1na v.., v towed, to a convenientdistance from the mast head, the said distance amounting to perhaps 800 feet and is there marked or biioycdf The end of the main haulage cable from the airship which is thrown down is also marked or buoyedvso that it may be r'Eaa picked up by an operator on land or in a fast boat and connected .to the main haulage rope from the mast head. The main haulage rope is then hauled in until the side alone; with the operator at 3:; to the point at I guy ropes are brought tor-ward to the operator by the aforesaid ball and ring device,

whereupon they are detached from the main,

haulage rope and connected to the cables leading round the pulleys C C The side guy cables 7', f are, if necessary, then hauled 'in in the usual manner until the length thereof, between the ships nos-e d the an chor points at the ends of the lrewardly pro- .by means of the hand winch G until it is located within the mooring fitting H when it is clamped in position. It now it is desired to rotate the top oi? the mast the radu rods I are attached to the airship so that th" ship is enabled to turn the top R into an v position according to changes in wind (lll'G tion.

hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis 1. A. n'iooring mast for lighter-than-air aircraft, in which anchor points for the side guys or cables which steady the airship as she is being hauled down to the mastare provided on laterally or radially projecting members or girders attached at or towards the top of the mooring mast.

2. A mooring mast i'or lighter-than-air aircraft as claimed in claim 1, which is also provided at the top thereof with one or more lateral or radially projecting members for hauling in the man haulage cables.

2-3. A mooring mast tor lighter-than-air aircraft, comprising three laterally or radially projecting members attached at or towards the top thereof, each of said members being provided with a pulley or snatch block at or towards its outer extremity around which the main haulage cables and the side guy cables are passed.

-11. A mooring mast as claimed in claim 1, in which haulage winches are provided associated with the said lateral or radially projecting members for hauling in the main haulage cables and the side guy cables.

A mooring mast as claimed in claim 1 in which a spherical moor ng socket is provided adapted to be positioned around a spherical member on the nose of the airship.

6. A mooring mast for lighter-than-air aircraft in which anchor points for the side guys are cables which steady the airship as she is being hauled down to the mast are provided on laterally or radially projecting members or girders attached at or towards the top of the mooring mast, in which a spherical mooring socket is provided adapted to be positioned around a spherical member on the nose of the airship, and in which an auxiliary cable is provided associated with said mooring socket, said cable being adapted to be attached to the nose of the airship and to a cable carried at the nose of the airship for hauling down the Spherical member into position within the mooring socket. I

7. A mooring mast as claimed in claim 1 in whiclrthe laterally or radially projecting members are mounted on a revolving part located at the top of the mast.

8. A mooring mast for light'enthan-air aircraft, comprising laterally or radially projecting members of a suitable length at or towards the top of the mast, a main haulage cable and two side guy cables, carried by the airship, and pulleys or snatch blocks at the extremities of said members around which said main and side guy cables are adapted to be passed.

9. A mooring mast for lighter-thanair aircraft in which the airship is hauled down into the moored position by a main haulage able and a pair of side guys, one portion or said main haulage cable and said side guys being carried on winches located at the nose of the airship, the free ends of the airship portions of the side guys from the winch'es on the airship being connected to a ring or like member through which the airship portion of the main haulage cable can pass freely, the airship portion of the main haulage cable being provided with a ball or other stop device which cannot pass through said ring and which is located at a suitable distance from the free end thereof, so that when a pred termined length of the airship portion of the main haulage cable has been unwound the ball or stop device will come into contact with the ring or like member and will pull, the ring along with it and thereby unwind the airship portions of the side guys from the guy rope storage winches on the airship the ends oi said airship portions of the side guys being thus led along with the airship portion of the main haulage cable to an operator on the mast and connected to mast portions of the main haulage and side guy winches.

CHAR-LES DENNISTON BURNEY.

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